Pallor Overview

Considerations

Unless pale skin is accompanied by pale lips, tongue, palms of the hands, inside of the mouth, and lining of the eyes, it is probably not a serious condition, and does not require treatment.

Pale skin does not necessarily mean you are sick. You may just lack of sunlight or have inherited light-colored skin.

General paleness affects the entire body, and is most easily seen on the face, lining of the eyes, inner mouth, and nails. Local paleness usually affects a single limb.

How easily paleness is diagnosed varies with skin color, and the thickness and amount of blood vessels in the tissue under the skin. Sometimes it is only a subtle lightening of skin color. Paleness may be very difficult to detect in a dark-skinned person -- sometimes it is apparent only in ...